Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Zone One by Colson Whitehead

8 reviews

hkveit's review

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Body horror

travisppe's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I liked it, CW is an amazing writer, but the narrative jumps around a lot and it was hard to keep pace. Intentional, I’m sure, but be forewarned. Also, prose is pretty dense for a zombie novel. Lost forward momentum a few times but worth the slog. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, War, Death of parent, Excrement, Child death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Chronic illness, Confinement, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Car accident, Death, Dementia, Abandonment, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Vomit

tinathedrifter's review

dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

I was impressed by the world-building of a post-plague New York. But, every few pages the author elbows his way in and rants on about his angsty ruminations of the past. It could have been a lot shorter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, War, Murder, Death, Suicide, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, and Alcohol

rynstagram's review against another edition

3.5

This is an introspective zombie book, so it moves a little slowly, but Colson Whitehead has an ability to choose exactly the right diction and the main character's self-confessed mediocrity in an extraordinary world. Even if I had to look up a lot of word definitions... And a lot of the descriptions are visceral, especially when describing the sounds and sights of the zombies' bodies. 

I mostly gave this a lower rating because the plot seemed to drag in a lot of places. This is just the nature of a novel like this, that takes place over only three days and thus involves lots of recollections and thoughts rather than more action. 

It's not quite hopeful, but it's not quite hopeless. Somewhere in the middle. This is a world in which detachment from reality and an ability to not care too much are assets. 

I think Whitehead creates a great satire of our current society by using this zombie plague to discuss mental illness & the wellness industry (PASD--post-apocalyptic stress disorder), corporate sponsorships of the human race's survival (including alcohol and other unnecessary indulgences), how everything has become an act & everywhere a stage (large-scale public relations that trick those involved and those who are watching), and how fitting in & skating by in life can be a defense mechanism (Mark Spitz's talent for flying under the radar, not too good or too bad at anything). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Addiction, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, and War

unsuccessfulbookclub's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Look, I was as surprised as you probably are that Colson Whitehead wrote not only a plague novel but a *zombie* plague novel, and it was just exactly how I thought it would be: weird, tense, sad, darkly funny and worth your time.

Zone One is literary fiction about a zombie plague. It’s gruesome and gross but also deep and very well written. It takes lots of narrative risks, with only three chapters (insert nervous laughter) and a nonlinear timeline. Whitehead loads the prose up with words you’ve probably never heard outside of SAT prep, but mostly as ways to denigrate Connecticut. It’s simultaneously thoughtful commentary on our world and a terrifying story about one guy living through an apocalypse.

👍🏻Recommended! Fans of Severance (the book), literary fiction, zombies, Otessa Moshfegh, Chuck Palahniuk and other Colson Whitehead books. This is a horror story at its core so check the CW

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Violence, Vomit, Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, and War

mzynda's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Suicide, Gore, and Cannibalism

impeachnixon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

While the writing style did sometimes take me out of the book, Zone One was a fascinating book and a fresh and interesting take on zombies!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Alcohol, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Gun violence, Gore, and Death

Moderate: Animal death and Suicide

Minor: Toxic relationship and Sexual violence

innerweststreetlibrarian's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This was excellent! I’m a bit surprised by the negative reviews, but I’ve also never read a “zombie” book before so perhaps if that’s something you read a lot this might be slow and boring for you. For me, I found it fascinating. It’s got a good balance between the world building and the action, and the focus on the mental health impacts of post-apocalyptic survival is not something that I think gets enough attention. OF COURSE everyone would have trauma and PTSD. What I found really interesting was how that impacted on the plot and the character interactions. It all felt very believable to me. 
I surprised myself a bit that I even wanted to read a book about the aftermath of a pandemic, (albeit a very rapid, destructive, and medically implausible zombie virus) it seems I was ready. Not sure exactly what it was about the blurb for this one that hooked me in, but I’m glad it did. I really enjoyed the quality of the writing and will definitely read more by Whitehead as a result. This one’s a keeper! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicide, Cannibalism, Confinement, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, Torture, and Sexual assault